Garment and closure therefor



Nov. 3, 1936. R. M. GOLDSMITH 2,059,337

GARMENT AND CLOSURE THEREFOR Filed Jan. 17, 1936 INVENTOR RICHHRD M gvozbsM/ TH. BY

Fl 57' 4, ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 3, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GARMENT AND CLOSURE 'rnmmroa Richard M. Goldsmith, New York, N. Y. Application January 17, 1936, Serial No. 59,492

2 Claims- (01. 2-234) The present invention relates to wearing apparel, and more particularly, to bifurcated nether garments, such as, shorts and trousers, and 010- sure fasteners therefor.

It has been proposed heretofore to provide trousers of such construction that the fronts thereof could be closed by means of a slide fastener, better known as a zipper fastener. The prior art trouser constructions in which said fasteners are utilized are, however, subject to several disadvantages and are'inconvenient in use. One of the most serious objections which is present in one of the prior art constructions referred to arises from the fact that in order to open the front of the trousers, the slider most be moved downwardly, which results in opening the front from the waist toward the crotch whereas it should be possible to open the front to a limited extent adjacent the crotch. It has been proposed to obviate this objection and disadvantage of such construction and the incontener, instead of one, thereby adding to the expense of the garment.

One object of the present invention is to provide a garment of the class described with a closure fastener of the zipper tyTie provided with a single slider for operating the interlocking elements in such manner that the front of the garment may be opened completely or may be opened partially to the extent necessary adjacent the crotch.

Another object of the invention is to provide a garment of the class described in which the slide fastener is utilized for releasably fastening the front ends of the waist band of the garment, eliminating buttons, buckles, and other fastening devices heretofore found necessary in garments provided with closure fasteners of the "zipper" type.-

The aboveobjects of the invention and other objects which might hereinafter appear are obtained in the preferred embodiment of the inventible of other specific embodiments, the construction shown in the drawing is to be considered as illustrative of and not as a limitation of the application of v the principle of the present invention. I

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a garment known as shorts" embodying the present invention, the front of the garment being shown closed;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the front of the garment partly opened;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the front of the garment completely opened;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front view of the upper portion of the garment with a part thereof cut away for the sake of clearness in illustration;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 1. I

In accomplishing the objects of the present invention, there is utilized a slide fastener comprising stringers having interlocking elements secured to the confronting edges of the stringers and operated by a slider to cause the interlocking elements to mesh and unmesh when the slider is moved longitudinally of the stringers. There are numerous fasteners of this type available, one such fastener, for example, being shown in United States Letters Patent No. 1,219,881. Such fasteners, however, are usually provided with top stop members which limit the movement of the slider, and the arrangement is such that the interlocking elements are brought into mesh by moving the slider toward said top stop members. For the purpose of the present invention, however, it is necessary not only to provide for unmeshing the interlocking elements by moving the slider toward the upper ends of the stringers, which in the present case would be disposed in the waist portion of the garment, but it is also necessary to provide for the complete separation of the stringers, especially at the waist portion of the garment so that the garment front may be completely opened. For this purpose, there is utilized, in accordance with the present invention, slide fasteners of the type which are pro- I vided with separable end-connecting members on the respective stringers which permit the stringers to be entirely separated, the arrangement being such that one of the separable end-connecting members may be withdrawn from engage- 5o ment with the other end-connecting member by withdrawing the former through the sliderchannel. One slide fastener construction, including such separable end-:connecting members which are suitable for accomplishing the objects of the present invention, isshown in United States Letters Patent No. 1,830,078.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, there is shown a pair of shorts ill having a front opening extending from the waist portion l2 to the apex of the crotch Ml, providing separable front portions l6 and 8, respectively, which are constructed and arranged to provide marginal edge portions or flaps 2|] and 22, respectively, which are disposed in overlapping relation when the front of the garment is closed. The stringers 24 and 26 are stitched to said front portions so that the edges 28 and 3H, defined by the metal interlocking elements, are spaced from the free edges 32 and M of the flaps 2|] and 22, respec tively, so that the flap 2t! underlies said metal interlocking elements and prevents the latter from coming in contact with the body of the wearer, and also in such manner, that the flap 22 covers the stringer 2t and conceals the latter from view when the front of the garment is closed.

In accordance with the present invention, provision is made for opening the garment front to any desired extent adjacent the apex of the crotch. For this purpose the slider 36 is disposed on the stringers so that movement of the slider from the apex of the crotch, where the slider is normally positioned when the front of the garment is closed, toward the waist of the garment, causes the interlocking elements of the stringers to unmesh and form an opening extending from a point adjacent the apex of the crotch to a point closer to or at the waist portion of the garment, depending upon the extent of movement of the slider in said direction. Thus, referring to Fig. 2, for example, the slider 36 is shown in a position spaced from the apex of the crotch at a point intermediate the latter and the waist portion of the garment, thereby providing an opening adjacent the apex of the crotch.

In Fig. 3 the slider 36 is shown in its extreme position at the waist portion of the garment to permit the complete opening of the garment front and the separation of the front portions l6 and it! throughout their extent between the crotch and the waist portion. To permit this complete separation, the ends of the stringers 24 and 26 are provided with separable end-connecting members 38 and Gil, respectively, the construction of these end-connecting members and their relation to the slider 36 being such that when the latter is moved to its extreme position, illustrated in Fig. 3, it engages an apertured stop member 42 which limits movement of the slider and normally engages a pin M on the end-connecting member 40 to prevent separation of the end-connecting members when the slider is moved toward the crotch. When, however, the slider 36 is in its extreme releasing or stringer-unfas tening position, the separable end-connecting member 40 may be withdrawn through the slider channel thus disengaging the pin 44 from the apertured stop member 42 so that the stringers may be completely separated to permit the complete opening of the front of the garment.

When it is desired to close the front of the garment, the slider is positioned in engagement with the stop element 42 and the separable endconnecting member 40 is inserted into the slider channel thereby causing the pin 44 to project through the aperture in the stop member 42. When the parts are in this position, the slider aotaee'r can be moved downwardly to cause the interlocking elements on the stringers to mesh with each other to effect the closing of the garment front. As clearly shown in the drawing, the stringers are of such length that the separable end-connecting members thereon are disposed close to the edge it of the waist portion l2. Thus, the fastener is not only effective to close the front opening, but also, and by reason of the provision of the separable end-connecting members, the waist band of the garment can be fastened and unfastened without the use of auxiliary fastening elements, such as, buttons, buckles, etc. heretofore employed for this purpose.

Thus, it is seen that the garment construction herein shown is well adapted to accomplish the several objects of the present invention. It will be understood that while I have shown the invention in connection with a garment known as shorts and while the invention is especially advantageous in that respect, other garments such as, trousers, bathing trunks, etc. may advantageously be provided with the present closure construction. As many changes in the details of the garment construction and arrangements of parts may be made, and will suggest themselves, in view of the present disclosure, I do not wish to be limited to the precise construction herein shown or described, except as may be required by the appended claims considered with reference to the prior art.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A bifurcated garment having crotch and waist portions having provision for opening the front of the garment completely from the apex of the crotch to the waist or partially to a point substantially below the waist, said garment having separable front portions extending from said crotch to said waist, slide operated fastener stringers attached to said separable front portions for substantially the full length of the latter, said stringers having separable end-connecting members at their ends which are disposed in the waist portion of the garment, and a single slider acting on said stringers to partially or completely disengage the latter from each other from the crotch toward the waist of the garment, said end-connecting members being disengaged from each other when said slider is moved to the waist of the garment to completely disengage said stringers.

2. A bifurcated garment having crotch and waist portions having provision for opening the front of the garment completely from the apex of the crotch to the waist or partially to a point substantially below the waist, said garment having separable front portions extending from said crotch to said waist, slide operated fastener stringers attached to said separable front portions for substantially the full length of the latter, said stringers having separable end-connecting members at their ends which are disposed in the waist portion of the garment, and a single 'slider acting on said stringers to partially or completely disengage the latter from each other from the crotch toward the waist of the garment, the separable end-connecting member on one of said stringers constituting a stop member for the slider to prevent movement of the latter off the stringer when moved to extreme stringer-unfastening position.

RICHARD M. GOLDSMITH. 

